Packers Offseason Moves- Latest: Gutekunst Hired as GM, signed to 5-year deal (Joe Philbin-OC, Mike Pettine-DC)

[pacopete4]

Just sad that there even needs to be a Rooney rule to begin with. Over the course of history there have been plenty of minorities that shoudve had jobs. Heck, the one black coach the Packers had they canned him after one 8-8 season.

[homer]

The thing about the Rooney Rule is that even though these look like token interviews (and in a lot of cases they are) at least guys like Whaley get to interview in front of a bunch of front office types. These guys talk and maybe down the road Murphy tells some other team "We were actually impressed with him. You should take a look". So maybe GB doesn't hire him but it expands his sphere of influence a bit.

[jerichoholicninja]

The thing about the Rooney Rule is that even though these look like token interviews (and in a lot of cases they are) at least guys like Whaley get to interview in front of a bunch of front office types. These guys talk and maybe down the road Murphy tells some other team "We were actually impressed with him. You should take a look". So maybe GB doesn't hire him but it expands his sphere of influence a bit.

 

Whaley has already failed as a GM and I doubt he gets another shot anywhere. He was the token interview for Cleveland and will be for Green Bay and probably a few more times in his career. The rule is stupid and racist. Especially when you consider it really only applies to the black minority. I'm sure there are a few hispanic or asian coaches and executives that are just as deserving of interviews as some of the guys that are getting token interviews.

[homer]

There were more minority coaches in the NFL at the beginning of 2017 season than at any time in the league's history. Maybe the Rooney Rule is simply a case of correlation not equaling causation but on the surface it appears to be working.

 

Ron Rivera is part of that number. Now it remains to be seen what is defined as "minority". Does interviewing Norm Chow count? I don't know.

 

Also, I'm not sure we can say Whaley "failed". He was fired last April after the draft. So he is pretty much totally responsible for all the players on the Bills roster that made the playoffs for the first time in 17 years.

[NeedMoreFans]

It's Gutekunst. http://www.packersnews.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2018/01/07/brian-gutekunst-gets-green-bay-packers-gm-job/1011265001/

[pacopete4]

Thank you McCarthy for stepping in and stopping Thompson from getting Ball.

[PeaveyFury]

No issues with the hire on my end. I'm sure the goal will be to try and keep both Ball and Wolf on as the cap guy and Director of Pro Personnel, respectively. Ball seems the more likely to stay, but maybe Wolf will stick for another year.

[PeaveyFury]

Thank you McCarthy for stepping in and stopping Thompson from getting Ball.

 

I'm sure this was joking... right? Especially after Silverstein debunked this rumor yesterday.

 

Not a great weekend for Bob McGinn, really.

[pacopete4]

Thank you McCarthy for stepping in and stopping Thompson from getting Ball.

 

I'm sure this was joking... right? Especially after Silverstein debunked this rumor yesterday.

 

Not a great weekend for Bob McGinn, really.

 

Where there’s smoke... I believe McCarthy got his guy.

[PeaveyFury]

Thank you McCarthy for stepping in and stopping Thompson from getting Ball.

 

I'm sure this was joking... right? Especially after Silverstein debunked this rumor yesterday.

 

Not a great weekend for Bob McGinn, really.

 

Where there’s smoke... I believe McCarthy got his guy.

 

Half the people here seem to think McCarthy is (or was) about to be fired, now he has enough pull to pick who the GM is for 3 years beyond his current contract? And Ted Thompson is now some manipulative genious, who has enough cloute to stay on the Packers' staff, but not enough to out vote a coach supposedly on the hot-seat?

 

That seems a bit of a stretch to me.

 

I know people generally pick sides in this stuff and believe what they want, but maybe McGinn's uncorroborated report was simply wrong?

[DuWayne Steurer]

I'm guessing the Packers picked the guy they wanted, with some (minimal) input from McCarthy. Everyone has their theories, but at the end of the day, unless there's someone here who works in the front office, everyone is just guessing.

[PeaveyFury]

I will absolutely agree that McCarthy is likely to be happy with the hire, as he likely would have been with Wolf as well. Expectations seem to be that both would have been more like Ron Wolf than Ball, who would likely have been closer to Thompson's approach. That said, though, no one knows a GM's approach until they actually take over in the job and start making moves/drafting, etc.

[pacopete4]

We can all have opinions on this. I’m just in the camp that Ted is more kiniving than a lot of people think. Ted still wants control but doesn’t want the full gig of dealing with the outside stresses. They put it out there to see how it would be welcomed that Ball, a Thompson crony, would take over. It didn’t take. McCarthy put out through sources that he’d look elsewhere . Rodgers put out that he didn’t like it. Then the fan base went a bit wild on social media. After all that, they check in on Schneider and when they saw Gutekunst slipping away they made the move to hire him.

[nate82]

We can all have opinions on this. I’m just in the camp that Ted is more kiniving than a lot of people think. Ted still wants control but doesn’t want the full gig of dealing with the outside stresses. They put it out there to see how it would be welcomed that Ball, a Thompson crony, would take over. It didn’t take. McCarthy put out through sources that he’d look elsewhere . Rodgers put out that he didn’t like it. Then the fan base went a bit wild on social media. After all that, they check in on Schneider and when they saw Gutekunst slipping away they made the move to hire him.

 

http://i.imgur.com/k5plvOS.gif

[docduany]

At least it's not Russ Ball. Everyone in the media thought it was going to be Ball. McGinn, Silverstien, Doughtery, Wilde, Oates... the whose who of Wisconsin sports reporters. The inside money was on Ball. I think Mac and Rodgers definitely had influence. I'm very hopefully Gutekunst can be amazing. Keep the strong scouting approach. Some trades. WISE use of free agency.

[pacopete4]

We can all have opinions on this. I’m just in the camp that Ted is more kiniving than a lot of people think. Ted still wants control but doesn’t want the full gig of dealing with the outside stresses. They put it out there to see how it would be welcomed that Ball, a Thompson crony, would take over. It didn’t take. McCarthy put out through sources that he’d look elsewhere . Rodgers put out that he didn’t like it. Then the fan base went a bit wild on social media. After all that, they check in on Schneider and when they saw Gutekunst slipping away they made the move to hire him.

 

http://i.imgur.com/k5plvOS.gif

 

 

Not really when you pair it up to all the "leaks" to the media over the last week.

[docduany]

I really like bringing Philbin back as OC. Sorry that Edgar Bennett wasn't interested in the WR coach, but I understand why. Now that the GM wheel has stopped spinning it's DC time. A big name would really be fun. Fangio would be lite my fire.

[pacopete4]

But Fangio will be 60 come August. No way can he get the job done. Too old!!

[superfly]

Thank god it isn't Ball.

[patrickgpe]

I wanted Wolf, but am happy with the hire. My only complaint on Thompson was that relied too heavily on the draft and took pride in having one of the youngest teams in the league each season. It seems like Gutenkunst will be more aggressive with free agency.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I wanted Wolf, but am happy with the hire. My only complaint on Thompson was that relied too heavily on the draft and took pride in having one of the youngest teams in the league each season. It seems like Gutenkunst will be more aggressive with free agency.

 

One of my gripes with Thompson as well. It often seemed that he was more interested in having trophies for "youngest team" or "most drafted players" than he was with actually putting together a winning roster. I know, academically, that this isn't true, but it sure came across that way at times, and I think that's why such a large part of the fan-base became so frustrated with him.

[pacopete4]

I wanted Wolf, but am happy with the hire. My only complaint on Thompson was that relied too heavily on the draft and took pride in having one of the youngest teams in the league each season. It seems like Gutenkunst will be more aggressive with free agency.

 

One of my gripes with Thompson as well. It often seemed that he was more interested in having trophies for "youngest team" or "most drafted players" than he was with actually putting together a winning roster. I know, academically, that this isn't true, but it sure came across that way at times, and I think that's why such a large part of the fan-base became so frustrated with him.

 

To be honest, I’m not sure a part of that isn’t true. He was about one other SB win away from looking like a true NFL genius.

[adambr2]

Thank you McCarthy for stepping in and stopping Thompson from getting Ball.

 

I'm sure this was joking... right? Especially after Silverstein debunked this rumor yesterday.

 

Not a great weekend for Bob McGinn, really.

 

 

I really don't think it's out of the question. MM was pretty adamant in his press conference that the GM needed to be a fit for him. Kind of an odd thing to throw out there unless there was someone specifically in mind that he didn't see as a fit.

 

McGinn is a pretty respected Packer writer, and when he reported on the sour relationship between MM and Ball, I doubt he's just making it up.

 

So is it plausible that MM went privately to Murphy, and said 'Look, if Ball is your guy, that's fine, but I don't see that as being a fit for me?' Would that be enough to get Murphy to change course? Sure, that's totally possible. It could just be that Ball was his 1A and Gutekunst was his 1B, and if so he probably wouldn't want to lose his HC over it.

 

Silverstein reporting that MM was fine with any GM candidate could be true, or it could simply be the Packers putting out that information when they changed course to preserve Ball's reputation and avoid any appearance of dissension.

 

Do I know that this is how it went down? No, none of us do, of course. But it's certainly not a stretch.

[FVBrewerFan]

I wanted Wolf, but am happy with the hire. My only complaint on Thompson was that relied too heavily on the draft and took pride in having one of the youngest teams in the league each season. It seems like Gutenkunst will be more aggressive with free agency.

 

There's no problem relying almost exclusively on draft/ develop if you draft really well. They won a SB doing that with Rodgers, Matthews, Raji, etc. He brought in Woodson which worked out well.

 

Problem is, much like Ron Wolf, TT ran out of steam as the years went by. Nobody is going to have a perfect record on draft day, but TT had some bad drafts, and whiffed too often in the 1st round. Hard to draft and develop guys that don't even belong in the league. Then in recent years he developed this odd fascination with players from the West Coast. When you fall in love with one scout over all others, it's a problem.

[patrickgpe]

I wanted Wolf, but am happy with the hire. My only complaint on Thompson was that relied too heavily on the draft and took pride in having one of the youngest teams in the league each season. It seems like Gutenkunst will be more aggressive with free agency.

 

There's no problem relying almost exclusively on draft/ develop if you draft really well. They won a SB doing that with Rodgers, Matthews, Raji, etc. He brought in Woodson which worked out well.

 

Problem is, much like Ron Wolf, TT ran out of steam as the years went by. Nobody is going to have a perfect record on draft day, but TT had some bad drafts, and whiffed too often in the 1st round. Hard to draft and develop guys that don't even belong in the league. Then in recent years he developed this odd fascination with players from the West Coast. When you fall in love with one scout over all others, it's a problem.

 

Agreed, I think the downfall of the packers were that, the last 3 drafts were not that good and TT had no backup plan for Rodgers going down. Jones and King will probably be good but were just rookies, but after focusing on defense the last few seasons, besides Martinez and Clark, there wasn't much there. Also after being caught with no plan in 2013 when Rodgers went down, you would think they would have a better idea than throwing out Hundley. If they had a veteran QB as a backup I think they are a playoff team even with Rodgers for the last 3/4 of the season. Look at what the Vikes did after Bradford went down.